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Fantastic Four #1 Review

Marvel’s 1st family looks to return to their roots, but will they be able to readjust?

Here is the summary from Marvel:

Marvel Now! begins for Marvel’s First Family! Four adults. Two kids. One “car.” The Fantastic Four take a journey through all of infinite time and space!

After a misadventure in the prehistoric era, Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) decides that it is time to return the foursome to their exploring astronaut roots. With the added responsibility of watching after and teaching the children of the Future Foundation, Reed also decides to take them along as well, labeling it a “year long field trip”. Susan Richards (Invisible Woman) is less enthusiastic however as Franklin (her and Reed’s mutant son), has a distressing premonition and tries to dissuade them from going into space. She doesn’t tell Reed, but little do her and the rest of the team know, Reed has ulterior motives for going back into the “Final Frontier”

Matt Fraction moves on from one genius to another in his transition from Invincible Iron Man to Fantastic Four. Using a “return to basics” approach, mostly trying to separate itself from Johnathan Hickman’s storied run. The elements are still there, such as Johnny Storm’s spaceship and the kids of the Future Foundation, but they don’t overshadow the story Fraction is telling. Everything is where it needs to be at this point.

Famed Ultimate Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley joins Fraction in this introductory tale, with his art looks nice as usual. Giving nice visuals to go along with the script, staying consistent throughout. Moving right along with the narrative in a linear fashion, never overstepping his bounds.

While it is a good number one issue with nice set ups, there is nothing really here to latch new readers on to the book. Seemingly written for those who were already fans of the series, not really adding any new elements to gain a new readers attention. This is where the book tends to fall a bit short of the mark. If your a fan of the FF you will like this, newcomers to the series may not feel the same attachment though.